Some Southern Baptist Church pastors in Texas have started to refer to Kamala Harris, the first Asian and Black female vice-president as “Jezebel”.
Three weeks ago, Steve Swofford the pastor of First Baptist Church of Rockwall and a member of the SBC Executive Committee, first used the term to refer to VP Harris during his sermon.
He claimed President Biden would be a “cognitively dysfunctional president” before asking his congregation, “what if something happens to him and Jezebel has to take over? Jezebel Harris, isn’t that her name?,” Swofford, said according to Baptist News.
Two days after Biden and Harris’ inauguration East Texas SBC pastor, Tom Buck took to Twitter to called the new VP a Jezebel.
“I can’t imagine any truly God-fearing Israelite who would’ve wanted their daughters to view Jezebel as an inspirational role model because she was a woman in power,” Buck wrote.
According to Baptist News, calling a Black woman “Jezebel” is a racist trope documented by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University. It has roots in slavery and the perceived sexual promiscuity of Black women compared to white women.
Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, called out both men on Twitter and called for the convention to “repudiate” both Swofford and Buck for “un-Christlike statements” and to “initiate discipline against them, NOW.”
Both men are standing their ground. Buck released a statement after receiving backlash saying, “I fully stand by the point of my original tweet!.”
